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No's Knife opens our new season

3 October 2016

As our new season opens, here’s a few words from our Artistic Director Matthew Warchus on Samuel Beckett and staging No’s Knife.

‘I have always been a fan of Samuel Beckett. Not only of Waiting for Godot, Endgame and Happy Days but also of the less frequently seen Krapp’s Last Tape, Footfalls and the mind-blowing disembodied mouth of Not I. I love his adventurous approach to theatre the way he experiments with form and content, turning so many conventions upside down. But it is his sense of Humanity and his humour and warmth even (and often) in bleakness which is for me his trump card. His honesty about the enormity of existing is very uplifting.

So when the formidably gifted Lisa Dwan asked if she might bring this never-performed Beckett text to The Old Vic for its world premiere I didnt hesitate to say yes. It certainly isnt standard Old Vic programming but it is very much in keeping with our new approach of trying to present a much wider range of work, for a much wider range of audiences, at this much-cherished building.’